"...Bender has been the only Jew to become an actual leader of the group. It's a dubious honor, as it furthers a cause that has been built on violence and bigotry against Jews and others, but it's obviously one that he can live with.

One month has passed since the election. I awake each morning hoping against hope that I am dreaming, living through a nightmare from which I will momentarily awake.

Awake I do, but the same poisonous phrases still hover over the nation like an alien invasion waiting to strike: "national registry of Muslims… ban on Muslims entering the U.S…. deportations… internment camps… build the wall!"

Think of what 2016 has wrought:

The destruction of Syria, and the steady stream of refugees risking all to land on Europe's increasingly unwelcoming doormat…

Terror attacks in Nice, Brussels, Orlando, Istanbul, Baghdad…

An outbreak of shootings of unarmed African American men by police officers…

A seemingly endless presidential campaign—marked by an unprecedented eruption of public racism, xenophobia, misogyny, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism—and its shocking conclusion.

Faith teaches us, however, not to give in to hopelessness, and NOT to acquiescence to an unjust social order. Indeed, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all give primacy to the pursuit of justice.

This is the importance of CAIR — both to the Muslim community and to America itself. For as a result of the presidential campaign, and the scapegoating of American Muslims and Islam, the Muslim community has now become democracy's bellwether. How American Muslims are treated by the new administration may well determine the future of freedom in our beloved nation for both native and foreign-born alike.

There is simply no other organization in the U.S. that has CAIR's breadth of activities, described and illustrated in the End-of-Year Newsletter PDF.

CAIR's ability to carry out its mission to defend the Muslim American community, however, depends on your generous donations and your involvement. I hope after reading about all CAIR has accomplished in this past year, you will conclude that CAIR is indeed worthy of your tax-deductible and zakah-eligable donation.